Posing Guide for Photographing Women: 7 More Poses to Get You 21 Different Photos [Part III]

Let’s move on with 7 lying down poses for women. And again I’ll briefly try to describe the process, how I tried to slightly adjust these poses in order to get three different photos for each pose.

Pose 1

Very simple pose to start with. After getting the model into initial position, ask her to raise the upper body as high as she comfortably can.

Photo 1: The first picture is the result of recreating this simple pose. Notice that you should shoot from very low angle, nearly from the ground level.

Photo 2: With such a basic pose as this one, you always have different options to variate – different hand placements, head tilts, eye directions and face expressions. In this shot the only difference is hand placement and slightly lowered upper body.

Photo 3: And I continued by asking the model to lower down even more. Notice that tighter crop is also a nice option to differentiate your shots.

Pose 2

Very similar pose as the first one, but this angle is better for including longer model’s body line in the frame. And notice that one of the model’s legs is bent in the knee. This helps to raise her bum up for a better looking body shape.

Photo 4: If you compare this shot with the first one, you will notice that it is nearly the same pose, but the changed angle gives different look to the image.

Photo 5: And again I continued with different hand placement. Note that hand doesn’t support the head, it actually doesn’t support anything, it’s just placed in the hair.

Photo 6: And one more hand placement variation and tighter cropping.

Pose 3

Another very similar pose to the previous ones, the main difference again is the shooting angle – right from the front. At this point the model hasn’t even moved from the initial position, it’s the photographer who moves gradually around her.

Photo 7: Here the model already started to repeat the gestures from earlier shots. Don’t be afraid to take these nearly similar poses as these minor variations might be invaluable when selecting the final choice of images in post production.

Photo 8: The variations with both hands stretched in front.

Photo 9: And close-up crop again, but this time with the eyes closed.

Pose 4

We continued with the next easy and straightforward lying down pose.

Photo 10: An easy to describe and really easy to execute pose.

Photo 11: Again, only couple of options to change here. Arms could be connected under the breast line as in this example. The arms could also be stretched back behind the head for another variation.

Photo 12: And in this photo the model tried to achieve kind of dreamy look with eyes closed and hands placed asymmetrically.

Pose 5

Lying down very low. Works very good as well for close-up portrait shots.

Photo 13: As my model was lying on the sandy beach, I asked her to support the head on the hand, but in other settings the head might as well touch the ground.

Photo 14: Here I asked the model to raise the head higher and keep the hands placed asymmetrically.

Photo 15: And the next variation was sleeping pose with eyes closed.

Pose 6

Lying down on the side. Couple of points to check. The left leg is crossed over the right. The left arm is rested on the hip and partly hidden behind the body. The right hand is placed under the head but it supports it with only the tips of the fingers. If the model’s head would be fully supported by the hand the pose would just indicate tiredness.

Photo 16: Following the previously described instructions, the model easily recreated the sample pose.

Photo 17: Here basically only the right hand’s placement is different. And placing it down on the ground instantly raises her upper body higher.

Photo 18: From there she straightened the supporting hand and raised the body even more higher.

Pose 7

And finally a bit more demanding pose. The biggest challenge for the model is to keep an air of relaxation. Ask her to fold her head back as far as possible while slightly facing it to the camera. And this posture for sure works best with eyes closed.

Photo 19: If the model can manage to look relaxed, the results will be rewarding.

Photo 20: This pose is a nice variation to the previous one as it’s far more simple for the model to recreate.

Photo 21: And here I asked the model to raise higher up and took the shot from above.

So, together with the previous articles – 7 standing poses [Part I] and 7 sitting poses [Part II] – you now have lots of poses to choose from. For more variation and a more dynamic result I would suggest to choose a few from each article and mix them in a single shoot. You will very soon discover that even a small number of starting poses is more than enough to have a great, productive session.

All of these illustrations and many more posing samples are available on Posing App for your mobile devices.

Kaspars Grinvalds is a photographer working and living in Riga, Latvia. He is the author of Posing App where more poses and tips about people photography are available.

Some Older Comments

These are great! I am not seeing the "unflattering neck action" mentioned in one of the posts.

Tom McKennaAugust 1, 2013 06:48 am

Very good illustrations on how a simple adjustment can change the mood and tone of a photograph.

Although this model is an elegant and beautiful lady, I would have liked to see the photgrapher place her in poses where her hair and smile accents her radiance and elegance more.

I agree that the roots' and some photos of her neck were less flattering, and if her hair had touched on her shoulders more- the accent would have embodied her radiant face and her overall elegance much better.

Thanks
Tom

joseh britoJuly 31, 2013 06:39 am

Simple and beautiful!
The light is diffused and this helped in the final outcome.

AndrewJuly 29, 2013 12:04 pm

Thanks for these, may I ask though, there is some really unflattering nexk action going on in a lot of these poses, should the model be elongating her neck more, or is there some other way to avoid this?

GabbieJuly 29, 2013 07:38 am

I love this post! This was really helpful for me since I'm just starting out in photography! I hope to see more posts like these! Thank you!

Nice set of photos - I always find it awkward to pose people and it can be a challenge especially if the model is uncomfortable or feels weird about being in front of the camera. Certainly helps to show them what you're looking for though!